When I was a kid, if Washington and Kansas City were making a trip to Chicago it would have been the Senators and A's in town to play the White Sox.
This gives me a chance to tell you a little story. The last time the White Sox played Washington and Kansas City back-to-back was in September 1967, though not both at home. They had a doubleheader at Kansas City, then came home to finish the season with a three-game set against the Senators.
When this five-game sequence began, the White Sox were in third place, one game behind with five remaining. The A's and Senators were bad teams; Washington lost 85 games that year and Kansas City was the worst team in the league, losing 99 games.
The Sox lost all five games, getting shut out three times and scoring only five total runs in those games, and finished fourth in the tightest pennant race in years.
I mention this not just because of the Washington/Kansas City connection, but that year was the real turning point in Chicago baseball fandom. The White Sox had been a good team since the early 1950s, winning one pennant and contending almost every other year and consistently outdrawing the Cubs.
But in 1967, the Cubs awakened from a 20-year slumber and contended briefly in midsummer, a prelude to several good years in a row. Meanwhile, the White Sox reached the end of their run and in 1968, lost 95 games. Those two things, plus the fact that the Sox left WGN-TV to the Cubs starting in 1967, tilted the balance of fandom in Chicago toward the Cubs, something that continues to this day, nearly 50 years later.
Let's just hope the Cubs do better against the Nationals and Royals than the White Sox did in that five-game disaster in 1967.
Finally, here is your once-a-series reminder about SB Nation's partner daily fantasy game, FanDuel. If you want to participate, here's the link.
Here are today's particulars.
Cubs lineup:
Fowler CF, Bryant 3B, Rizzo 1B, Castro SS, Soler RF, Coghlan LF, Ross C, Wada P, Russell 2B
The first start for David Ross catching anyone other than Jon Lester. And not against a lefthander, either.
Happy Memorial Day! Game preview: http://t.co/CUWlzzRLpM #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/2TqL1WnTBX
— Chicago Cubs (@Cubs) May 25, 2015
Nationals lineup:
Span CF, Desmond SS, Escobar 3B, Harper RF, Zimmerman 1B, Ramos C, Espinosa 2B, Taylor LF, Roark P
Today's Starting Pitchers |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tsuyoshi Wada did all right in his first 2015 start, though he was pulled relatively early, throwing only 69 pitches in 4⅔ innings against the Padres last week. He has never faced the Nationals and the only member of the Nats roster he has ever faced is Yunel Escobar (1-for-2). Perhaps that will work in his favor today.
Tanner Roark had a 5.1 bWAR year for the Nats in 2015, won 15 games and posted a 2.85 ERA and 1.092 WHIP. For many teams, that could be a No. 1 starter. On the pitching-rich Nats, that got him assigned to the bullpen, where he's made 13 decent-to-good appearances. He has not thrown more than 61 pitches in any outing this year, and his last outing was a three-inning, 37-pitch relief appearance against the Padres eight days ago. Perhaps the Cubs can take advantage of the rustiness and lack of being stretched out. Roark made two starts against the Cubs last year and the Cubs won both of them. Current Cubs are a small-sample-size 8-for-34 (.235) against Roark. Chris Coghlan is 5-for-10.
Today's game is on WGN. For coverage info in other Midwest markets click here (link opens .pdf).
Here is the complete MLB.com Mediacenter for today.
Baseball-reference.com game preview
Please visit our SB Nation Nationals site Federal Baseball.
The 2015 Game Thread procedure has changed a bit. Here's how it will work going forward.
You'll find the game preview posted separately on the front page, two hours before game time (90 minutes for some early day games following night games).
At the same time, a StoryStream™ containing the preview will also post on the front page. The First Pitch Thread and all the overflow threads will be published in that stream, as well as the recap. The recap will also live on the front page as a separate post, and at the time I write the recap I will rename the stream "Cubs vs. (Team) (Day of Week) Game Threads" so you can go back and find every thread related to that particular game.
You will also be able to find the preview, First Pitch Thread, all the overflow threads and recap in the box marked "Chicago Cubs Game Threads" at the bottom of the front page (you can also find them in this section link). They will also appear in the game's StoryStream™ as noted above.
The First Pitch thread will post at five minutes before game time, then an overflow thread at one hour, two hours and 2:45 after the scheduled game time.
Discuss amongst yourselves.